Fable: The Return Chapter 6
The King has finally reached the place where his father found his power, but is there some other power lurking in the depths of the Chamber of Fate? Chapter 6 "Reaver," the king choked and struggled to speak. "We need to read a book; it's…it's under that table there." "Oh, which one, majesty?" "It's the fourth from the-" again the king felt a booming voice erupt in his head. This time, it brought him to the ground in agony. Rather than a powerful woman, this voice came in the form a little girl. "Please help me! Help me get out of here! They said they are going to take my youth! Please, I'm begging you, get that book and get me out of here!" The voice faded away. As he was writhing, two of his guards had vanished from his sight. Reaver was walking around, half-heartedly looking for books when the king came sprinting over and knocked him out of the way. He clawed at the pile of books until he found the one specified by the first voice. "Reaver!! Read this now! Tell me what it says!" The king stumbled all over the books that were now scattered all over the floor, clawing at his own head and squeezing. Reaver gingerly flipped through pages until he found one with legible writing. "Hm, let me see here," Reaver read, "Ah! Here we are, it says here that during the Hero of Oakvale's historic fight with Jack of Blades the… the fight actually took place right here in this chamber. It says that the very center of the chamber was the location of the first portal into the Void in centuries of recorded history. The portal was only closed because the Hero sacrificed a weapon of immense power known as the Sword of Aeons." "How did Jack open the portal?!" "Why on earth would you want to know how to open a portal to the Void?" "There is a little girl trapped in there! She told me that these creatures were trying to take her youth." Reaver immediately looked very intrigued and slightly confused. "I see…well it says here that Jack opened the portal by sacrificing the blood of an Archon. How interestingly complicated." "Why do you say that?" "The Archon's are gone and dead, kings of the Old Kingdom. How Jack got a hold of their blood, I will not know." "Wait!" The king shouted. "My father once told me that our blood was powerful… that we were descendent of an ancient line of Heroes and Kings. Perhaps I carry the blood of these Archons." "Perhaps indeed." Reaver smiled once more and tipped his top hat. He immediately tossed the king a small knife. "Be my guest, save this little girl of yours if you must. I will warn you, though, I've heard the Void isn't very pleasant." "Noted…" The king took a long pause and soon outstretched his hand to the center of the chamber. Swiftly, he made a cut along the length of his palm. Blood flowed out of his hand and onto the center of the Chamber of Fate. Seconds passed by and nothing happened; there was only silence filling the hall. The king almost gave up and screamed until there was a shudder. There was a strange feeling that was sent through their bodies and the world itself. A shockwave of force pulsed inside of the king's body. Reaver, however, seemed unfazed. The king watched as the remaining two guards in the chamber clutched their heads in pain and toppled off the edges of the floor. The king felt a sudden burst of darkness flow through his mind and fill his vision. He could barely see as evil began to form right in front of his face. The circle in the center of the Chamber of Fate grew dark; not just black, but it carried a new form of darkness that could not be expressed. Swirling vortices of shadow erupted from this rift in the world and cries flowed out from the Void and darkness flew into the chamber. Evil had returned into Albion; after years of peace from the shadows of evil, it had come back. Reaver stood calm and collected amongst the chaos surrounding him, still with the little smirk gracing his face. He watched happily as three great shadows emerged from the rift to the Void. They took their places above the portal and gazed with fiery red eyes at Reaver and the king. "Oh Shadow Court! Welcome to the world far away from your tomb in Wraithmarsh, doomed to stay an eternity in exile underground. I give you freedom to roam now! Now about my side of the bargain-" The three shades spoke at once, "Fool! Those pathetic creatures are as nothing to us! Your Shadow Court is a triumvirate of pathetic shadows, using their Will power to do minuscule favors for mortals like you, Reaver!" Reaver loses his smirk and his expression quickly changes to that of shock, one that Reaver does not use very often. The king finally collected himself and gazed upon the giant masses of shadow that filled the chamber. His mouth dropped and his eyes cried with horror. Their hateful eyes looked upon him and struck fear into the very essence of his mind. The figure in the center hovered closer to him and spoke, "Ah!" It was the woman he had heard before in his head. "The King of Albion." The voice now changed to that of the little girl, "Oh, please help me, help me! They're going to kill me! Please help!" The king looked to the giant shadow with absolute fear. He fell to his knees before the three figures. "We have been waiting for someone like you, Hero."